Lighter



Nov. l0, 1931. J. B. STERN ET AL LIGHTER Filed Jan.

O Ill E l. E f f5 Ela Patented Nov. 10, 1931 UNIT-'EJ n smilies.,

.PATENT OFFICE;

' Jai-toire nfs'rERNnN'n BnaNAnn s; ismiinmizv', onnavv' stonk, N. Y. 'A

"application --n1ea'^ January 25, 192s. serial No. 334,877..

This invention relates tolighters, and more particularly to a method andfmeans forgfueling .iiint-sparklighters. f

A popular type of pocket and tablezlighter,

5 for smokers, is a lighter havingA a fuel reservoir, preferably' containing absorbent material for holding benzine, gasoline, alcohol, or other volatile fuel, `a .wick projecting out of the reservoir, and a flint-sparking mechanism for igniting the wick. Such a lighter is refueled by inverting it, removing a screw plug from its bottom., and transferring Aa quantity of fuel through the resultingopening by means of a medicine dropper or similar device."- To lessen this difficulty special cans of fuel have been marketed, designed somewhat like an oil can, but these add greatly to the expense of the fuel, and are'not nearly so commonly available as are the more usual fuels.

The primary object of our invention is to facilitate the fuelin of such lighters, that is, toprovide a self filling lighter, which We do by arranging the lighter to suckfuel. up-

Wards froman open body ofthe fuel preferably by varying the efectiveinternal volume of the lighter.

A further object of our invention-.is to pro'- vide means for varying the edective internal volume of the lighter to obtain the desired pumping action, and tothis end We provide an elastic` sac lwhich is 1in communication with the "fuel Ireservoir of the lighter, and means to compress or release the sae in order to obtain the'desired suction.= The sac.-:is normally left released, making thevolume of the lighter aA maximum, and thereby'holding the charge of fuel.

A further object of our invention is to 40 provide a pumping arrangement permitting successive charges of fuel to be drawn into the lighter, if needed, Without necessitating suction and discharge valves, such as are em-` ployed in an ordinary pump. To dothis we take --adva-ntage of the fact that ythese lighters ordinarilyrdo notcotain-free liquid fuel, butar'e'arranged with absorbentfuel' holding vmaterial whichis' nierelyf'saturatedfV '"I'Ilfzh'-"f with the `fuel, to practice thefo'llo'vvin 5U "0de we atari-eaten@ agrifef wien-aai of thefuel, and thereafter increasethe effective internal volume of ther lighter in order to suck fuel intocontactwiththe absorbent material',i Irepeating, thisc operation until the absorbent material .isfullyvsatur ated, and, if desired, finally reducing the internal .volume to. `discharge any excess fuel.

The absorptive property of the absorbent fuel holding material is utilized to replace spuction and discharge valves. Of course, the

-displacement maybe so designed that a single charge of fuel will ordinarily serve to saturate the absorbent material, but it is lconvenient to be able to repeat the operation, if necessary to obtain full saturation.

To connect the lighter with the body of fuel it is desirable to have a suction pipe reaching toward. the fuel, but this pipe, ob,-

viously, should notv roject out-of the lighter except during refueling. To provide` such a suction pipe is another object of our invention, Whichwe fulfill with a suction pipe pivoted to the lighter,and provided with resilient means for causing said pipeto position itself either substantiallyA parallel to the lighter, or substantially perpendicular thereto, and, to prevent fuel evaporation` additional means for closing 'an en d ofthe pipe when it is in theparallel position.

f To prevent fuel from entering the elastic sac is a further object of our invention, which We fulfill byr so spacing the .points of connection of the sac'and of the suction pipe with the reservoir that fuel does not rise in the reservoir `to a level sufficiently high to enter the sac.

Our invention is further described in the following s ecilication, which is accompanied by rawings in which Figure lis a partially crossl sectioned elevation ofa simple fo-rm ofv our invention; Figure 12: is a bottom view ofthe arrangement shown in Figure 1; Figure 3fis a cross section of a `modification employing aalever actuated filling system; Figure LLis an elevation of themodifcation shown in F igurey 3 improved by a "combined wick'cap'" armaandf' suction pipe- Figuret is afplaniviejv offfFigurea; and y:Fig'urf'i i6fi`s' a-detail. if 13"? -fRef'errig 'to 1f' it lwillthe:seen that;

i ipointofeommunicationistattbetopof there is a lighter of conventional form., comprising a body 2, which acts also as a. fuel reservoir, a wick 4, a wick cap 6 supported on a pivoted wick cap arm 8, flint-supporting mechanism 10, and flint abrading mech- :mism none of which is visible except the knurled thumb wheel 12.

In the present lighter, however, the sides of the body 2 extend below the bottom of the reservan' le and cap 16, to form a compartment beneath the reservoir, made accessible by a. hinged door 18. Within the compartment thus formed there is located a suction pipe and an elasticsafc or bulb 22. The suction pipe 20 is pivoted to the bottom of the lighter through an elbow 24, threaded to a. square member 26, which is also engaged by a resilient 28, forcing the suction pipe to remain either substantially parallel to the lighter, as shown, or substantially perpendicular thereto, when used for in the parallel position the end of the suction pipe 20 is closed against a tapered seat in order to'prevent evaporation of the fuel held in suspension by the absorbent fuel holding material 32. The elastic sae 22 is connected to a. tube 34, which rises the fuel reservoir to a considerable heightin order to prevent fuel from entering the sac itself during the operation.

To refuel the lighter the door 18 is opened, the suction pipe 20 is snapped into itsvertil position, the sac 22 is moved out of the way to the dotted position indicated in l, the suction pipe 20 is immersed in a body of fuel, the sac 22 is squeezed either before or after the immersion and is released after the immeision, sucking fuel into the fuel reser- Voir and into contact with the absorbent material 32, which taires it up.

Figure2isabottomviewofliigure Land shows how the suction pipe 20 is fitted to the member 26, which is internally threaded to engage with a thread on the pipe elbow 24. n this er a llow connection is established from the suction pipe into the fuel reservoir, and, at the same time, the suction pipe may turn about the thread the n quarter turn. The member 26 is made square for cooperation with the spring 28, which either presses the suction pipe 20 the seat 30, or holds it in a perpendicular position for Attention is now directed to Figure 3, which is an improvement over the ment shown in 2 in that the velastic sac is permanently protected by a portion of the body of the lighter, separated from the fuel reservoir by a partition 42. The sac 40 is fixed to a removable threaded member 44, a hole in which partition 42, th y placing the sac in communi'cation with the fuel reservoir. '111e withaholedinthe the lighter because the suction pipe is attached at the bottom, the resulting spacing serving,likethetubeZAinl'` 1,topre vent fuel from yiuto thesac itself. Upon actuation of a lever 50, pivoted to the lighter body at 52, the sac 40 is compressed by a plate 48, pivoted to the inner end of the lever.

As before, the lighter is provided with a suction .pipe 20, oscillating on an elbow 24, andclosmgagamstaseatinresponsetoa spring 28. In this case the room taken by the suction pipe 20 is relatively small, and, there no free sac, the door for closing the bottom of the lighter may be with.

ln a copeuding application of Albert M.

Franklin, Serial Number 334,880, liled ooncurrently herewith, it is suggested that the separate suction pipe be dpensed with by utilizing the wick cap arm as a suction pipe. n arrangement embodying this improvement is indicated in Figure Il, in whichthe usual wick cap 6 is in dow communication with a tubular wick cap arm 60, which in turn is connected to a square member 62 e aspring64,a.ndthreadedtoanelbow66, which is connected to the fuel reservoir. The clong of the wick cap its seat closes the end of the pipe to prevent ee evaperation. Sac 40 and screw member 44 are intbiscaseinvertesotbatthesacis in communication with the fuel reservoir at a Wint remote from the point of connection of the suction pipe 60, thus preventing fuel from entering the sac itself. The screw member 44, at the bottom of the lighter, doos not mar its appearance, and, as before, the entire sac may be removed for repair by unsere the member 44.

5 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in 4, and illustrates how the wick cap 6 is connected to a suction pipe 60, mounted on a square member 62,I which in turnisthreadedtoapipeelbowthandln- :1:: a. a .tiollillg SP 64. spar ihdhanism 10, :llh may be of conventional type, has been cnt away in order to better show the suction pipe connection.

Figure 6 is a detail of the suction pipe oonneetion, and shows how the square member 62 isthreadedtoengagethepipe elbow 66, while the suction pipe 60 isset into the square member 62.

Any pivoted connection which simultaneously permits of flow, either always, or else only in the vertical position of the suction pipe, may equally well be used. We have elected to show thefonn illustrated merely of its extreme simplicity.

In'all cases the customary manual lilling plug 16 is provided, through the e f '1L for which the wick and absorbent ma are put into the reservoir, and in which spare lints may be kept.

If the lighter has completely dried lili) out the fuel charge needed to saturate the lighter may exceed the displacement of the sac. We recognize that it is quite feasible to use the sac merely as a pumpdisplacement mechanism, and to additionally provide suction and air discharge valves at the bottom and top of the reservoir, respectively, to enable one to repeatedly pump fuel therein. However, we consider the much sim ler illustrated arrangement to be preferably because with the usual lighter construction it is anyway desirable that there be no free liquid in the fuel reservoir which might leak out of the wick tip, filling plug, or suction pipe, and soil the hands and clothing of the user. Fuel in excess of saturation being undesirable the absorptive property of the fuel holding material may itself be taken advantage of to act as a form of suction and discharge valve, for fuel brought into contact with the absorbent material will be held, and if insufficient, the filling operation may be repeated until full saturation is obtained. The sac may be inally squeezed to discharge any excess liquid, thereby insuring that the absorbent material, while fully saturated, is not immersed in free liquid.

We claim:

l. The combination with a lighter having a fuel reservoir, of suction means to suck fuel upwards into the reservoir, and means to prevent the fuel from entering the suction means.

2. The combination with a lighter having a fuel reservoir, of an auxiliary chamber of variable volume in (communication with the reservoir in order to vary the effective internal volume thereof in 'order to suck fuel therein, and means to prevent the fuel from entering the auxiliary chamber.

3. A self filling lighter comprising a fuel reservoir, a suction pipe for connecting the reservoir with an open body of the fuel, an auxiliary chamber of variable volume also in communication with. the reservoir, and means to vary lthe volume of the auxiliary chamber in order to suck fuel through the pipe into the reservoir.

4. A self filling lighter comprising a fuel reservoir, a suction pipe for connecting the reservoir with an open body of the fuel, an elastic sac also in communication with the reservoir, and means t0 com ress or release the sac in order to suck fuel t rough the pipe into the reservoir.

5. A self illing lighter comprising a fuel rv-tervoir, a suction pipe for connecting the reservoir with an open body of the fuel, an elastic sac also in communication with the reservoir, and means to compress or release the sac in order to suck fuel through the pipe into the reservoir, the points of connection Aof the sac and of the plilpe with the reservoir el does not enter the being sp spaced that sac. y 

